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Hosea Chapter
Ten
Hosea 10
Chapter Contents
The idolatry of Israel. (1-8) They are exhorted to
repentance. (9-15)
Commentary on Hosea 10:1-8
A vine is only valuable for its fruit; but Israel now
brought no fruit to perfection. Their hearts were divided. God is the Sovereign
of the heart; he will have all
or none. Were the stream of the heart wholly
after God
it would run strongly
and bear down all before it. Their pretences
to covenant with God were false. Even the proceeding of justice was as
poisonous hemlock. Alas
how empty a vine is the visible church even at this
day! But all earthly prosperity is but a collection of bubbles
soon destroyed like
foam upon the water. Sinners will in vain seek shelter from that Judge
whom
they now despise as a Saviour.
Commentary on Hosea 10:9-15
Because God does not desire the death and ruin of
sinners
therefore in mercy he desires their chastisement. The children of
iniquity still remained in Israel. The enemies would be gathered against them.
It is just with God to make those know what hardships mean
who indulge
themselves in ease and pleasure. Let them cleanse their hearts from all corrupt
affections and lusts
and be a broken and contrite spirit. Let them abound in
works of piety towards God
and of justice and charity towards one another:
herein let them sow to the Spirit. Seeking the Lord is to be every day's work
but there are special occasions when to seek him. Christ shall come as the Lord
our righteousness
and grant us of it abundantly. If we sow in righteousness
we shall reap according to mercy; a reward not of debt
but of grace. Even the
gains of sin yield the sinner no satisfaction. As our comforts
so our
confidences in the service of sin will certainly fail us. Come and seek the
Lord
and thy hope in him shall not deceive thee. See what cruel work war
makes. Whatever mischief is done
it is sin that does it. What miseries men's
sins bring on them
even in this world!
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Hosea》
Hosea 10
Verse 1
[1] Israel is an empty vine
he bringeth forth fruit unto
himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars;
according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.
An empty vine — That hath lost its strength to
bring forth fruit.
Unto himself — Whatever fruit was brought forth
by its remaining strength
was not brought forth to God.
His fruit — When the land yielded more
plentiful increase
this plenty was employed on multiplying idols.
The altars — Of his idols.
The goodness — Imagining that the goodness of
their land was a blessing from their idols.
Verse 2
[2] Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty:
he shall break down their altars
he shall spoil their images.
Is divided — From God and his worship.
Faulty — As this was their sin
so the effects hereof should
manifestly prove them faulty.
He — God.
Verse 3
[3] For now they shall say
We have no king
because we feared
not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?
Say — See and feel.
No king — Either no king at all
or no such king as we expected.
What then — For kings are not able to save
without the God of kings.
Verse 4
[4] They have spoken words
swearing falsely in making a
covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
Words — Vain words.
Swearing falsely — By perjury deceiving
those they treated with.
A covenant — With the Assyrian king.
Judgment — Divine vengeance.
As hemlock — A proverbial speech
expressing
the greatness of this evil.
Verse 5
[5] The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the
calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it
and the priests
thereof that rejoiced on it
for the glory thereof
because it is departed from
it.
Because of the calves — Because they had
sinned by these calves
therefore did this fear seize them.
The people — They who dwelt at Beth-aven.
That rejoiced on it — These priests
formerly were fed
clothed
and enriched by this idol
this made them right
glad.
The glory thereof — All its credit is
vanished.
Is departed — The Assyrians have either broken
it
or carried it in derision into Assyria.
Verse 6
[6] It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to
king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame
and Israel shall be ashamed of his own
counsel.
It — The golden calf.
Verse 7
[7] As for Samaria
her king is cut off as the foam upon the
water.
Is cut off — Shortly will be cut off: this
prophecy probably was delivered when Samaria was besieged.
Verse 8
[8] The high places also of Aven
the sin of Israel
shall
be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they
shall say to the mountains
Cover us; and to the hills
Fall on us.
The high places — The temples and altars of Baal.
Of Aven — Or Beth-aven.
They shall say — When this shall be brought to
pass
the idolatrous Israelites shall be in such perplexity
that they shall
wish the mountains and hills might fall on them.
Verse 9
[9] O Israel
thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah:
there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not
overtake them.
They — Probably the six hundred men who fled to the rock
Rimmon.
Overtake them — That fatal battle did not reach
them; but now Israel shall be more severely punished.
Verse 10
[10] It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the
people shall be gathered against them
when they shall bind themselves in their
two furrows.
The people — The Assyrians.
For their two transgressions — Perhaps
their revolt
from David's house
and their idolatry.
Verse 11
[11] And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught
and loveth
to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make
Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow
and Jacob shall break his clods.
Taught — Used to
and so skilled in.
Passed over — I laid some lighter yoke upon
her
brought some gentle afflictions upon that people to tame them
but this
hath not prevailed.
Ride — I will ride on Ephraim and tame him.
Shall plow — Judah tho' less sinful hath been
used to harder labour; hath plowed when Ephraim hath reaped.
Break his clods — The same in another proverbial
speech
their work at present is harder
but there is an harvest follows. Tho'
they sow in tears when going to Babylon
they shall reap in joy at their
return.
Verse 12
[12] Sow to yourselves in righteousness
reap in mercy; break
up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD
till he come and rain
righteousness upon you.
Reap — And ye shall reap in mercy.
Fallow ground — Your hearts are as ground
over-run with weeds
which need to be plowed and broken up
that good seed may
be sowed in them.
And rain — Plentifully pour out the fruits of his goodness and
mercy.
Verse 13
[13] Ye have plowed wickedness
ye have reaped iniquity; ye
have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way
in the
multitude of thy mighty men.
Ye have plowed — You
O Israelites.
Ye have reaped — Ye have lived in wickedness
and
propagated it
and ye have met with a recompense worthy of your labour.
Eaten — Fed yourselves with vain hopes.
In thy way — Their way was their idolatry.
Mighty men — The next lie on which they lived
was the wisdom and valour of their great men.
Verse 14
[14] Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people
and all
thy fortresses shall be spoiled
as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of
battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
As Shalman — Probably Salmaneser.
Beth-arbel — It was a city of Assyria
and
gave name to a country or region in part of Assyria.
Verse 15
[15] So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great
wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.
Beth-el — The idolatry committed there.
Do — Procure all this evil against you.
In a morning — Possibly the Assyrians might
assault the city towards morning and master it.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Hosea》
10 Chapter 10
Verses 1-15
Verse 1
Israel is an empty vine
he bringeth forth fruit unto himself.
The abuse of worldly prosperity
Our version is faulty here. Elzas renders
“Israel is a luxurious
vine
whose fruit is very abundant.” So our subject is the abuse of prosperity.
Some men are very prosperous. Every branch of their life clusters with fruit.
Sonic nations are very prosperous. When is prosperity abused?
I. When it is used
with an exclusive regard to our own selfish ends. As--
1. For self-indulgence.
2. For self-aggrandisement.
The right which property gives is the right to lay it out for the
benefit of our fellow-men.
II. When it is used
without a supreme regard to the claims of God. Unless we employ our property
according to the directions of the Great Proprietor we abuse the trust. How
does God require us to employ our property?
1. For the amelioration of human woes.
2. For the dispersion of human ignorance.
3. For the elevation of the human soul.
To raise it to the knowledge
the image
the fellowship
and the
enjoyment of God. How are we
as a nation
using our enormous prosperity? (Homilist.)
The figure of the vine
Israel is a luxuriant vine. Not as in the A.V. “an empty vine
”
nor as in the margin A.V. “a vine emptying the fruit which it giveth
” but a
vine which pours itself forth
spreads out its branches. It denotes the outward
prosperity and abundance which they had enjoyed. The vineyard had been planted
with the choicest vine
and diligently cultivated
but it bore wretched fruit
significant of sins against God. (W. Henry Green
D. D.
LL. D.)
The Church compared to a vine
1. No plant has a more unpromising outside than the vine.
2. The vine is the most fruitful plant that grows out of the earth.
3. No plant requires so great care as the vine.
4. The vine is the most depending plant in the world
unable to
underprop itself
it must have props more than any other plant
and therefore
nature has given it tendrils by which it catches hold of anything near it.
5. If it be not fruitful
it is the most unprofitable thing in the
world.
6. A vine is the most spreading of plants. It spreads larger than
other plants
and fills a great deal of room with its branches.
7. The vine is the softest and most tender of plants
the emblem of
peace. But Israel is an empty
or emptying
vine; he makes himself empty.
Israel as a robbed vine
The prophet means
that Israel was like a vine which is
robbed after the ingathering is come: for the word bekok means properly
to pillage
or to plunder. The prophet compares the gathering of the grapes to
robbing; and this view best suits the place. Israel is like a robbed vine
for
it was stripped of its fruit; and then he adds
“he will make fruit for
himself.” I understand by the words that Israel would lay up fruit for himself
after the robbing
and sacred history confirms this view; for this people
we
know
had been in various ways chastised: so
however
that they gathered new
strength. For the Lord intended only to admonish them gently
that they might
be healed; but nothing was effected by God’s moderation. The case
however
was
so
that Israel produced new fruit
as a vine
after having been robbed one
year
brings forth a new vintage; for one ingathering does not kill the vine.
Thus also Israel did lay up fruit for himself; that is
after the Lord had
collected there His vintage
He again favoured the people with His blessing
and
as it were
restored them anew; as vines in the spring throw out their
branches
and then produce fruit. God
in the next clause
complains that Israel
after having been once gathered
went on in his own wickedness. This is a
useful doctrine. We see how the Lord forbears in inflicting punishments--He
does not execute them with the utmost rigour. But how do they act who are thus
moderately chastised? As soon as they can recruit their spirits they are
carried away by a more head strong inclination
and grow insolent against God.
(John Calvin.)
Israel as a vine
A luxuriant vine; one which poureth out
poureth itself out
into leaves
abundant in switches (as most old versions explain it)
luxuriant
in leaves
emptying itself in them
and empty of fruit; like the fig-tree which
our Lord cursed. For the more a fruit tree putteth out its strength in leaves
and branches
the less and worse fruit it beareth. “The juices which it ought
to transmute into wine it disperseth in the ambitious idle shew of leaves and
branches.” The sap in the vine is an emblem of His Holy Spirit
through whom
alone we can bear fruit. “His grace which was in me
” says St. Paul
“was not in
vain.” It is in vain to us
when we waste the stirrings of God’s Spirit in
feelings
aspirations
longings
transports
“which bloom their hour and fade.”
Like the leaves
these feelings aid in maturing fruit; when there are leaves
only
the tree is barren
and “nigh unto cursing
whose end is to be burned.”
“It bringeth forth fruit for itself
” lit. “setteth fruit to
or on
itself.”
Luxuriant in leaves
its fruit becomes worthless
and is from itself to itself.
It is uncultured (for Israel refused culture)
pouring itself out
as it
willed
in what it willed. It had a rich shew of leaves
a shew also of fruit
but not for the Lord of the vineyard
since they came to no size or ripeness.
Yet to the superficial glance
Israel
at this time
was rich
prosperous
healthy
abundant in all things. (E. B. Pusey
D. D.)
Self-aggrandisement
and its secret
“He bringeth forth fruit unto himself”; and yet
literally
he
brings forth no fruit at all
only long stem and tendril
and leaves
innumerable; his fruit is all foliage. The figure is very Hebraic and grand.
Israel is a vine
and a growing vine
but Israel misses the purpose of the vine
by never growing any wine; growing nothing but weedy leaves
and so
disappointing men when they come to find fruit thereon
and discover none. The
Church is an empty vine. Theology is an empty vine. All religious controversy
that is conducted for its own sake--that is to say
with the single view of
winning a victory in words--is an empty vine
--luxuriant enough
but it is the
luxuriance of ashes. “According to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased
the altars; according to the goodness of his land
they have made goodly
images.” They have gone pari passu with the Almighty--He
the living
Father
doing the good
and they
the rebellious men
doing proportionate evil.
When the harvest has been plentiful
the idolatry has been large
increasing in
urgency and importance; when the vine has brought forth abundantly
another
image has been set up. That is the teaching of the prophet; yea
that is the
impeachment of God. God may be represented as saying
Your wickedness has been
in proportion to My goodness; the more I have given you
the less I have
received from you; the larger the prosperity with which I have crowned you
the
more zealous have you been in your idolatry; the more lovingly I have revealed
Myself to you
the greater your wantonness
selfishness
and rebellion. That is
not only Hebrew
it is English; that is not only ancient history
it is the
tragedy
the blasphemy of to-day. What is the explanation? Where is the point
at which we can stand and say: This is the beginning of the mischief? The
answer is in the second verse
“Their heart is divided.” That has always been
the difficulty of God; He has so seldom been able to get a consenting heart.
God says: These people want to do two irreconcilable things--they want to serve
God and Mammon; they want to courteously recognise the existence of Jehovah
and then run to kiss the lips of Baal. Their heart does not all go one way;
they cannot wholly throw off the true religion; it has indeed become to them
little better than a superstition
but men do not like to gather up all the
traditions of the past
and cast them in one bundle into the flowing river
in
the hope that it may he carried away and lost for ever. So they come to the
altar sometimes; now and again they look in at the church door; intermittently
they listen to the old Psalm and
the half-remembered hymn; but in the soul of them they are drunk
with idolatry. There are persons very anxious to maintain orthodoxy who are the
most notorious thieves in society; there are those who would subscribe to any
society to defend Sunday
if they might do on Monday just what they liked; they
are zealous about the Sabbath
and especially zealous that other people should
keep it
but on Monday you would never imagine that there was a Sunday. “Their
heart is divided.” (Joseph Parker
D. D.)
The self-shoot the wrong one to cultivate
A little while ago an inexperienced hand had trained a rose-tree
over a porch
The leaves of the tree were green
and the growth was strong
but
not a flower was there. “Why is this?” inquired the master of a skilled
gardener. The answer was given by an act
not by words
for
taking out his
pruning knife
the gardener in one moment levelled the rampant growth to the
ground. “What have you done?” cried the master. “Don’t you see
sir
” was the
reply; “your man has been cultivating the wrong shoot!” and
at the same time
the gardener pointed out the grafted rose
which had barely struggled two
inches above the ground
and which the wild shoot had completely overwhelmed.
In a few months the graft
set free from the encumbering growth of the wrong
shoot
sent out in vigorous life its beautiful branches
and covered the porch
with its luxuriance; and there it lives
a parable of heavenly things. Not all
the cultivation or training in the world could have made that wrong shoot
become a beautiful and flowering tree
neither will the efforts of a whole life
succeed in making our “old man” like Christ
or fruitful towards God. God has
condemned our nature in the Cross of Christ: He has judicially cut it down; and
no fruit fit for God shall grow upon it for ever. The practical word
then
to
those Christians who are seeking to produce out of self-fruit acceptable to God
is
Do not cultivate the wrong shoot. (H. F. Wetherby.)
Sin the product of man’s free will
This is the oldest illustration of cause and effect known to our
race. The Old Testament
with its system of conscience education
is a profound
commentary on the subject
its moral law creating a knowledge of sin
its
sacrificial system deepening the sense of the guilt of sin
and its prophetic
ministry denouncing sin
and bringing the sorrow and suffering following sin
home to the hearts of the kings and the people with unflinching courage and
precision. None the less striking is this truth when read from the pages of
classic heathenism. It is Helen’s crime and that of Paris which brings on
sorrow in the downfall of Troy. AEschylus
Sophocles
and Euripides are
pagan preachers enunciating the terrible judgments following in the train of
wrong-doing. Dante
Chaucer
Spenser
Shakespeare
Milton build their poems and
construct their dramas upon this foundation. Sin is the product of man’s free
will. “Israel bringeth forth fruit unto himself.” In appropriating the gifts of
God to self-gratification the Creator has been ignored. Sin is man’s own
product. It is the child of our own self-will. While it is true that in every human
being there is a persistent tendency to take the wrong direction in moral
development
yet no man is ever otherwise than a wilful sinner. The election by
the individual will to act counter to the requirements of God is the source of
all sin. Again
we see the insidious manner in which sin makes its home in the
human heart. Self-interest is pressed into the service of sin
but sin
once
getting a foothold
transforms a healthy serf-interest into gross selfishness.
Growth and prosperity are turned to sinful uses. In the satiety of
self-indulgence
in the greed of self-aggrandisement
in the divided heart
we
witness the wreck of God’s purposes as they are related to human life. Into
this terrible state of antagonism to the will of God the prophet Hosea declares
Israel has come. When the Almighty created man with free will
He
in a sense
“set bounds to His own omnipotence.” From that hour man has held in his will
the awful power of resisting God. Sorrow
then
and suffering
are the
inevitable results of persistent wilful sin. The moment sin is committed
judgment begins with the steady developments of growth. But in the distressing
picture of sin and its consequences now before us there is relief afforded.
Sad
indeed
would be the lot of man if he were irrevocably doomed to endure
the conditions of his terrible fortune. There is promised the overthrow of the
dominion of sin by repentance and service in the cause of righteousness. (E.
M. Taylor.)
Verse 2
Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty.
A divided heart
It is one grievous fault with the Church of Christ at the present
day
that it is not merely divided somewhat in its creed
and somewhat also in
the practice of its ordinances
but
alas! it is also somewhat divided in
heart. When our doctrinal divisions grow to so great a head that we cease to
co-operate
when our opinions upon mere ordinances become so acid towards each
other that we can no longer extend the right hand of fellowship to those who
differ from us
then indeed is the Church of God found faulty. Even Beelzebub
with all his craft
cannot stand when once his hosts are divided. The smallest
church in the world is potent for good when it hath but one heart and one soul;
when pastor
elders
deacons
and members are bound together by a threefold
cord which cannot be broken. Union is strength. By union we live
and by
disunion we expire. Apply the text to our individual condition.
I. A fearful disease.
“Their heart is divided.”
1. The seat of the disease. It affects a vital part
a part so vital
that it affects the whole man. There is no power
no passion
no motive
no
principle which does not become vitiated when once the heart is diseased.
2. The disease touches this vital part after a most serious fashion.
The heart is cleft in twain. Nothing can go right when that which should be one
organ becomes two; when the one motive power begins to send forth its
life-floods into two diverse channels
and so creates intestine strife and war.
3. It is a division in itself peculiarly loathsome. Men who are
possessed of it do not feel themselves unclean; they will venture into the
church
they will propose to receive her communion
and they will afterwards go
and mingle with the world; and they do not feel that they have become
dishonest. Take the glass and look into that man’s heart
and you will discern
that it is loathsome
because Satan and sin reign there. All the while that he
is living in sin he is pretending that he is a child of God. Stand out in thy
true colours. If thou art a worldling
be a worldling.
4. It is a disease always difficult to cure
because it is chronic.
It is not an acute disease
which brings pain and suffering and sorrow with it.
But it is chronic
it has got into the very nature of the man. What physician
can join together a divided heart?
5. This disease is a very difficult one to deal with
because
it is
a flattering disease. The most cunning of all flatterers is a man’s own heart.
A man’s own heart will flatter him
even about his sins. He is contented and
self-satisfied.
II. The usual
symptoms of the disease.
1. Formality in religious worship. These men have no faith; they have
only a creed. They have no life within
and they supply its place with outward
ceremony. What
wonder
therefore
that we fiercely defend that!
2. Inconsistency. You must not see him always if you would have a
good opinion of him. You must be guarded as to the days on which you call upon
him. You must have a divided heart if you live an inconsistent life.
3. Variableness in object. There are men who run first in one
direction then in another. Their religion is all spasmodic. They are taken with
it as men are taken with the ague. They take up with religion
and then they
lay it down again.
4. Frivolity in religion is often a token of a divided heart. It is
perhaps too common a sin with young persons to treat religion with a light and
frivolous air. There is a seriousness which is well-becoming
especially in youthful
Christians.
III. The sad effects
of a divided heart. When a man’s heart is divided he is at once everything that
is bad.
1. With regard to himself
he is an unhappy man. Men who are neither
this nor that
neither one thing nor another
are always uneasy and miserable.
2. He is useless in the Church. Of what good is such a man to us? We
cannot put him in a pulpit or make him a deacon. We cannot commit to his charge
spiritual matters
because we discern that he is not spiritual himself. We know
that no man who is not united in his heart vitally and entirely to Christ can
ever be of the slightest service to the Church of God.
3. He is dangerous to the world. He is like a leper going abroad in
the midst of healthy people; he spreads the disease. Though outwardly
whitewashed like a sepulchre
he is more dangerous to the world than the most
vicious of men.
4. He is contemptible to everybody. When he is found out nobody
receives him; scarcely will the world own him
and the Church will have nothing
to administer to him but censure.
5. He is reprobate in the sight of God. To the eye of infinite purity
he is one of the most obnoxious and detestable of beings. The holy God both
hates his sin and the lies with which he endeavours to cover it.
IV. The future
punishment of the man whose heart is divided. Unless he is rescued by a great
salvation. Let me describe the terrible condition of the hypocrite when God
shall come to judge the world. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The divided heart
The root of the evil in Israel was
as always
a heart
divided
--that is
between God and Baal
--or
perhaps
“smooth
” that is
dissimulating and insincere. In reality
Baal alone possesses the heart which
its owner would share between him and Jehovah. “All in all
or not at all” is
the law. Whether Baals or calves were set beside God
He was equally deposed.
Then with a swift turn Hosea proclaims the impending judgment
setting himself
and the people as if down in the future. He hears the first peal of the storm
and echoes it in that abrupt “now.” The first burst of the judgment scatters
dreams of innocence
and the cowering wretches see their sin by the lurid
light. That discovery awaits every man whose heart has been “divided.” To the
gazers and to himself masks drop
and the true character stands out with
appalling clearness. What will that light show us to be? The ruin of their
projects teaches godless men at last that they have been fools to take their
own way; for all defences
resources
and protectors
chosen in defiance of
God
prove powerless when the strain comes. It is a dismal thing to have
to bear the brunt of chastisement for what we see to have been a blunder as
well as a crime. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
Antagonistic principles
Solomon wanted to live a life of self-indulgence while posing as a
servant of God. His offering costly sacrifices
and building a magnificent
temple
and making a beautiful prayer
could not rectify the inconsistency. The
two could not exist together in one person. It was like the ice palace built
for an empress of Russia
which was beautiful as a dream
with elaborate
architecture
and glistening like a jewel in the sun. But it was intensely
cold
and the empress ordered a fire to be built in it. The architect had to
explain to her that the fire would destroy the building. She could not have an
ice palace and warmth at the same time. Neither can any one have a heart of icy
selfishness along with the warmth of God’s love. (Christian Herald.)
A divided heart
You know there is what is called “changeable silk
” which looks
now green and now brown
just as the light chances to strike it. It is neither
brown nor green
as a matter of fact
but a commingling and compromise of the
two: therefore you can get whichever colour you like
according as you present
it to the sun. And I am sorry to say that it is so with a good many Christians.
You can get a worldly shade or a heavenly shade on their piety
just according
to the company they are in. (A. J. Gordon.)
Divided hearts
We are told that some of our scientists have recently been trying
a very doubtful experiment. They take a section of one creature and fasten it
upon another creature of an altogether different type. This is done by a
delicate surgery when the creature is immature
and when it comes to perfection
you have a strange monster. For instance
it is said that they fasten a section
of a spider on the butterfly
and by and by you get an alarming and tragical
organism. You may imagine what becomes of those antagonistic impulses and
instincts. The creature has a feeling for the light and a passion for the
darkness; it has a taste for blood
and loves the scent of roses; is afraid of
itself and worries itself. Now
when you have seen the spider and the butterfly
blended into one organism
you have seen a pale reflection of your own
personality. One part of us sympathises with the low and another part with the
lofty; one part of us looks into the firmament and another part cleaves to the
dust. (W. L. Watkinson.)
A divided heart
In every age and country there are some found with divided hearts
on the subject of religion. Such was Hiram
King of Tyre
who
while he blessed
the Lord that Solomon was king
and gladly traded with him for some of the
materials for building a temple to Jehovah
also contributed one hundred and
twenty talents of gold towards its erection. And yet
in his own country
he
dedicated a golden pillar to Jupiter
built the temples of Hercules and
Astarte
the Ashtaroth of the Zidonians
and enriched the shrines of the god
and goddess with valuable gifts. So Redwald
the King of East Anglia
when
converted to Christianity
is said to have kept two altars
the one to the God
of the Christians
the other to Woden
a Saxon idol
being afraid of the
imaginary god whom he had so long worshipped. So there are some now
who appear
very religious at times
and yet their hearts go after covetousness
and they
are quite at home in the circles of the gay and in the indulgence of sinful
pleasure.
Judgment on the divided heart
1. As the heart is a vital part
which cannot be divided without
death
so men can have no life of God
nor acknowledgment of Him
when they are
not solely and wholly for Him and His way.
2. When men do fall from God’s way
it is just with Him to give them
up to start and multiply divisions without end in their own way.
3. Civil dissensions and commotions are the just fruits of men’s
divisions in the matter of God and His worship. (George Hutcheson.)
Verse 4
They have spoken words
swearing falsely in making a covenant:
thus Judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of a field.
Social sins and their result
I. Social sins.
1. Vain speech. “They utter empty speeches.” Not only are words of
falsehood
blasphemy
and unchastity sinful
but empty words. How much idle
language is there current in society!
2. False swearing. In judicial courts
in homes
in shops
in fields.
3. Unrighteous treaties. There is no harm in making covenants. Making
a bad covenant is implied. The primal reference is to certain treaties Israel
had formed with foreign nations. Untruthful as well as unrighteous bargains
are being struck every hour.
II. Results of
social sins. “Judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.”
Out of these social sins certain results appear. How do they come?
1. They come as a growth. Every sin is a seed from which a
pestiferous plant must spring.
2. They come as a poison. Hemlock
or poppy
or darnel; poisonous
productions.
3. They come in abundance. Very prolific is sin. See its plants
growing in the ridges and furrows of life; in sick chambers
hospitals
workhouses
in prisons
in battlefields. (Homilist.)
Sin disturbing human relations
The sin of Israel is now contemplated in its effects on human relations.
Before
it was regarded in relation to God. But men who are wrong with Him
cannot be right with one another. Morality is rooted in religion
and
if we
lie to God
we shall not be true to our brother. Hence
passing over all other
sins for the present
Hosea fixes upon one
the prevalence of which strikes at
the very foundation of society. What can be done with a community in which
lying has become a national characteristic
and that even in formal agreements?
Honeycombed with falsehood
it is only fit for burning. Sin is bound by an iron
link to penalty. “Therefore
” says Hosea
God’s judgment springs up
like a
bitter plant (the precise name of which is unknown) in the furrows
where the
farmer did not know that its seeds lay. They little dreamed what they were
sowing when they scattered abroad their lives
but this is the fruit of that.
“Whatsoever a man soweth
that shall he also reap”; and whatever other crop we
may hope to gather from our sins
we shall gather that bitter one
which we did
not expect. The inevitable connection of sin and judgment
the bitterness of
its results
the unexpectedness of them
are all here
and to be laid to heart
by us. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
Sin the cause of sorrow
There is a connection between sin and sorrow
between wickedness
and calamity
between moral transgression and physical
social
political
disaster. We may define sin negatively is impiety
iniquity
unspirituality;
but Hosea speaks of it as a positive aggressive force
inflicting injury on the
heart of the individual transgressor
and infecting also the external condition
of the people. In emphasising the influence of sin on external conditions
the
prophet teaches a profound truth
but not the whole truth. Jesus teaches that
sin works disaster
even when the external condition is prosperous
and all
that appears is respectable. Moral transgression is always followed by moral
punishment. The connection between moral transgression and physical disaster is
not constant and necessary. The prophet begins with a reference to Israel’s
condition as blessed by God. “Israel is a luxuriant vine.” But he is found
guilty. Here is the prophet’s charge against Israel on account of their sin.
1. It perverts prosperity. Prosperity itself is not sinful. It is far
from the thought of the Hebrew prophet that misery is the normal condition of
the servant of Jehovah. But sin perverts prosperity. It allows the material to
eclipse the spiritual. It fails to use prosperity for the noblest ends. It
fails to take account of the latent force of prosperity; it does not appreciate
its value. Prosperity is to be valued as a condition of life
as a means of
ministering to life more abundant.
2. It destroys religion
and takes away its inspiration. Sin does not
at once do away with religion. It would fashion religion to its liking; but in
this transformation the essence of religion evaporates. So it was at least in
Israel. In perfunctory religion there is nothing to take hold of and mould the
man.
3. It invalidates government. The deepest conditions of national
prosperity are not of man’s creation
not determined by human legislatures. The
political intercourse of men is conditioned on eternal principles of right
and
nations as well as men must act in truth.
4. It emasculates society. It is a pitiable picture which Amos and
Hosea paint of society in Samaria. Appetite reigns
drunkenness abounds
licentiousness and cruelty follow in their train. The very indulgence which sin
practises defeats its own object. The fibre of the muscle is relaxed
the
vigour of the mind is gone
patience
courage
hope have fled with faith
and
the people lie supine
weak
inert. The prophet has disclosed the disastrous
consequences of sin
but his purpose is to establish righteousness. God’s aim
is not to curse
but to bless. But alas! the prophet
like all spiritual
teachers
speaks to heavy ears. The people have but little leisure for
righteousness. They would none of Hosea’s counsel
they despised all his
reproof. (T. D. Anderson.)
Verse 5-6
The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of
Beth-aven.
These verses dilate
with keen irony
on the fate of the first
half of Israel’s sin
the calf. It was thought a god
but its worshippers would
be in a fright for it. “Calves
” says Hosea
though there was but one at
Bethel; and he uses the feminine
as some think
depreciatingly. “Beth-aven
”
or the “house of vanity
” he says
instead of “Beth-ei
” the “house of God.” A
fine god whose worshippers had to be alarmed for its safety! “Its
people
”--what a contrast to the name they might have borne
“My people!” God
disowns them
and says
“They belong to it
not to Me.” The idolatrous priests
of the calf worship will tremble when that image
which had been shamefully
their “glory
” is carried off to Assyria and given as a present to “King
Jareb
”--a name for the King of Assyria meaning the fighting or quarrelsome
king. The captivity of the god is the shame of the worshippers. To be “ashamed
of their own counsel” is the certain fate of all who depart from God; for
sooner or later
experience will demonstrate to the blindest that their refuges
of lies can neither save themselves nor those who trust in them. But shame is
one thing and repentance another; and many a man will say
“I have been a great
fool
and my clever policy has all crumbled to pieces
” who will only therefore
change his idols
and not return to God. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
The degrading influence of false worship
Doctrine--
I. Idolatry is
matter of ignominy to any place or interest that owns it; for it turns Beth-el
into Beth-aven.
2. It proves the vanity of idols that their worshippers cannot trust
in them
but must be solicitous and anxious about them in straits; for so were
they about the calves of Beth-aven. This solicitude differs far from the fear
of God’s people about His worship and ordinances in times of danger
which does
not flow from their diffidence in God
but from the sense of their guilt.
3. Anything that men place their confidence in beside God will prove
matter of fear and terror. For so did the calves prove to Samaria in the time
of their siege.
4. Albeit corrupt worship and religion may seem strange at first to
them who have been bred up in the truth
yet in process of time
and being
attended with success
it may take with them who are not well rooted.
5. Such as are eminently employed in and great gainers by corrupt
worship have a sad day abiding them
therefore it is added in special that
mourning is abiding the priests.
6. The glory of idolatry and of a false religion (being but borrowed
and having nothing to commend it but novelty and success) will at last vanish
and depart. God will bring about this by judgments
when no other means will
effectuate it. “The glory thereof is departed from it.” This will be the lot of
all false ways; whereas truth
however men loathe it for awhile
will still at
last be found to be lovely
and to have a native unstained beauty. (George
Hutcheson.)
Verse 8
The high places also of Aven
the sin of Israel
shall be
destroyed.
Redeeming qualities gone
Beth-el means the “house of God
” and by iniquity
manifold and
black
Beth-el was turned into Beth-aven
which means the “house of vanity.”
This is an instance of deterioration
and more than mere deterioration; it is
an instance of transformation from good to bad
from the heights of heaven to
the depths of the world of fire. Such miracles can be accomplished in the
individual character
and such miracles have been found possible in
ecclesiastical relationship. But the case is worse. We now read of “the high
places also of Aven”; the “Beth” is left out: once it was Beth-aven
the house
of vanity; now nothing is left but the vanity itself. That is the process of
unchecked
untaught
unsanctified nature. We say of a man
he has still one or
two redeeming qualities; but the time comes when every redeeming feature is
lost. Then men say of the abandoned one
Aven
vanity
all vanity and vexation
of spirit. (Joseph Parker
D. D.)
Degeneration
When men degenerate from the pure teaching of God
they in vain
cover their profanations with empty names. God loudly proclaims respecting
Beth-el that it is Beth-aven
and the reason is well known; it is because
Jeroboam erected temples and appointed new sacrifices without God’s command.
The Lord approves of nothing but what He Himself commands. Hence the high
places of Aven shall perish. (John Calvin.)
Verses 9-11
O Israel
thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah.
Sin and punishment
“The days of Gibeah” recall the hideous story of lust and crime
which was the low-water mark of the lawless days of old. That crime had been
avenged by merciless war. But its taint had lived on
and the Israel of Hosea’s
day “stood
” obstinately persistent
just where the Benjamites had been then
and set themselves in dogged resistance
“as these had done
” that the battle
against the children of unrighteousness might not touch them. Stiff-necked
setting one’s self against God’s merciful fighting of evil lasts for a little
while
but verse 10 tells how soon and easily it is annihilated. God’s “desire”
brushes away all defences
and the obstinate sinners are like children
who are
whipped when their father wills
struggle how they may. The instruments of
chastisement are foreign
armies
and the chastisement itself is described with a striking figure as
“binding them to their two transgressions”; that is
the double sin which is
the keynote of the chapter. Punishment is yoking men to their sins
and making
them drag the burden like bullocks in harness. What sort of load are we getting
together for ourselves? When we have to drag the consequences of our doings
behind us
how shall we feel? (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
It is in My desire that I
should chastise them.
Divine chastisement
This is a graphic expression; the whole meaning of it does not appear
in the English tongue. God does not willingly afflict the children of men: it
is not the delight of Almightiness to crush. It is the vanity of considerable
strength to tyrannise
but in proportion as strength becomes complete it
pities
it spares the helpless
for it knows that by one uplifting of its arm
and the down-bringing of the same it could crush every opponent. Imperfect
strength is a despot; Almightiness is mercy. But now there is a stirring of the
Divine emotions. God says
It will be better for these people to be afflicted;
they have left themselves nothing now but depletion
and they must be brought
to the very point of extermination . . . The Lord is very pitiful and kind
and
His eyes are full of tears
and judgment is His strange work: but there have
been times in the history of providence which could only be consistently and
rationally construed by granting that even the Divine Father must be stirred to
the desire to chastise and humble wicked men. (Joseph Parker
D. D.)
Verse 11
Render thus
--Ephraim indeed is a heifer
broken in and loving to
thresh
and I have spared the beauty of her neck; but now will I make Ephraim
to draw.
Changes for Ephraim
Israel’s punishment is enhanced by contrast with her former
prosperity
which
as a mark of the Divine goodness
is compared to the
consideration with which a young heifer is treated by its master. The work of
treading out the corn was pleasant and easy; the heifer could eat freely as it
walked without a muzzle round and round the threshing-floor. But this heifer
that is Israel
has abused the kindness of its Lord
and henceforth shall be
put to the heavy labour of the field--a figure for the depressing conditions of
life under a foreign master. The rendering “spared” (lit. passed by) is
justified by Micah 7:18; Proverbs 19:2; it adds a beautiful
distinctness to the figure
for the heavy yokes used in the East not only gall
the necks of the animals
but often produce deep wounds. The meaning is that
Jehovah has hitherto pre served His people from the yoke of captivity. (T.
K. Cheyne
D. D.)
Ephraim’s two yokes
Albeit Ephraim bred themselves delicately
and could not endure
trouble
or God’s yoke
yet God would put a yoke upon them
and to endure
bondage and captivity. The yoke of treading out the corn
which was easy work
is contrasted with the hard yoke of the plough and the harrow. Whence learn--
1. It is a fault incident to our nature to be much addicted to our
own ease
and that which brings present content and comfort
and to abhor any
lot or way of God’s service which proves contrary to that.
2. It is a great snare to men
making them to dote on an easy way
when they have been accustomed in God’s providence to such a lot
and
by
taking too well with it
become effeminate: for “Ephraim is taught
and loveth
to tread out the corn
” that is
hath been tenderly dealt with
and hath
accustomed his own heart to that way.
3. God hath an indignation at such as are too delicate
and take too
well with ease
and is provoked to put them to trouble. For “I passed over upon
her fair neck
” that is
I brought her under the yoke
who kept herself so
dainty: as if a man put a yoke upon the fat and sound neck of an undaunted
heifer.
4. Let wicked men tamper as they will
yet they will not get trouble
always shifted
but God will bring captivity and bondage
or other trouble upon
them. Ephraim shall be tossed into captivity
as a man makes his horse carry
him in far journeys.
5. The Lord’s sentence is universal against all secure and delicate
sinners
that He will send toil and trouble upon them
be they less or more
corrupt. Therefore doth Judah
though more pure in many things than Israel
come in in the sentence
“Judah shall plough
” which is a hard labour.
6. The hard lots of sinners may yet
through God’s blessing
prove
useful and profitable to them
however they may be ill-satisfied with them. (George
Hutcheson.)
Verse 12
Sow to yourselves in righteousness
reap in mercy; break up your
fallow ground.
Spiritual husbandry
There is not a more melancholy delusion than this
that in
religious life the grand object may be secured without the use of the appointed
means--that men may possess Christian privileges and realise Christian rewards
independently of those holy and strenuous endeavours so plainly required by our
Divine Lord. In spiritual things there cannot be a cancelling of the rule which
obtains in temporal things. The most unfading of crowns cannot be worn where
there has been no running in the race. The most splendid of victories cannot be
achieved where there has been no entrance into the battle. The most peaceful of
havens cannot be reached where there has been no contending with the winds and the
waves. The most glorious of harvests cannot be gathered in where there has been
no labouring in the field.
I. “Break up your
fallow ground.” The image here presented may apply variously. It may be applied
to our country; to the circle of our own families; to the state of our own
heart. The words may apply to the sincere believers amongst us. For we are
found barren of many attainable graces and perfections
We may always find some
fallow ground that needs breaking up.
II. Sow your seed.
1. The character of the work. There will be a righteous and constant
rule of the law of Christ. We must respect it alone. The motive must be
righteous. Whatever be the rule
if the motive be unholy
the act will be
unholy.
2. The exclusiveness of the work. “To yourselves.” The application is
individual and personal. Others cannot do it for us
nor we for others. In the
singleness of his own responsible existence every man must stand before God.
III. Reap in mercy.
The course of our spiritual husbandry bears an analogy with the natural. There
is first the breaking up of the fallow ground
then the sowing of the seed
and
then the reaping of the full corn in the ear: and as the strength is derived
from God in the former two cases
the blessing in the third comes directly from
Him as the Lord of the harvest. (T. J. Judkin
M. A.)
Spiritual husbandry
The Church is God’s husbandry. We are called upon--
I. To break up our
fallow ground. The heart of man is represented--
1. As ground. Therefore expected to produce fruit that will benefit
its owner.
2. As fallow ground. It is destitute of the fruit that it might
produce. It is not only useless to its owner
it is prejudicial to neighbouring
land that has good seed sown in it
in preventing the plants of righteousness
from growing to perfection.
3. As our fallow ground. Because we all have ground committed to our
cultivating care. And if it be not fallow now
there was a time when the term
might have been applied to it with correctness and propriety.
Breaking up our fallow ground implies a work--
1. Of labour; for which the Master of the land imparts strength.
2. Of sacrifice; for which the Proprietor communicates fortitude.
3. Of constancy and perseverance; for which the Lord of the soil
supplies patience.
4. Of renovation; for which the Owner of the ground affords means.
The soil in its present state is unfit to produce any useful plants; but when
the weeds which now grow therein are destroyed
the ground shall be renewed
that it may bring forth the fruits of piety.
II. Sow to
yourselves in righteousness. We have here a representation of right principles
under the figure of seed; the propriety of which may be discerned
if we
notice--
1. Right principles are not indigenous to the human heart. They must
be sown there.
2. The value of right principles.
3. The care and attention they demand. How great is the solicitude of
the husbandman in reference to his seed.
4. The vegetative power and productive quality. Right conduct is the
offspring of these principles. “Sow to yourselves” means--
III. Reap in mercy.
If we plough and sow as directed
the result shall surely be a harvest of
mercy. We shall reap--
1. In pardoning mercy
that cancels our sins.
2. In restraining mercy
that prevents us from running into error.
3. In preserving mercy
that preserves the faithful.
4. In rewarding mercy. The mercy of God is
like Himself
infinite.
The time of reward is represented as harvest
because--
1. The time of ploughing and sowing is for ever over.
2. Because at that period all the produce of the soil will be
presented to the Lord of the harvest.
3. Because reaping time is a season of joy and festivity. Eternity
shall declare the advantages of sowing in righteousness. Observe--
Sowing and reaping
See what the Word of God teaches with reference to the necessity
of a life of righteousness on our part
and as to the grounds on which a reward
will be given to the righteous hereafter. The illustration here chosen from the
works of nature is common to many other parts of Scripture. And the resemblance
is so obvious between the progress of a seed from its first being committed to
the soil
till the final harvest
with that of the gradual development of the
principle of good in the soul of man
that I need not dwell upon it
particularly. We are told to “sow in righteousness”; and what this injunction
involves we may gather from a consideration of the state of those persons to
whom it was originally addressed. There was required of apostate Israel
a
thorough
unshrinking reformation
an unqualified turning from sin to God. And
nothing short of this is required of us. Few of us have not continued
for a
longer or a shorter space
in deliberate and wilful transgression: all have to
bewail an interminable catalogue of negligences and ignorances: and all have
the evidence within themselves of an inherited nature so corrupt
that from the
sole of the foot unto the head there is no soundness in it. This fallow ground
must be broken up. Our hearts must be brought into a state of religious
cultivation. Vicious inclinations
sensual appetites
inordinate affections must
be rooted up. The soil must beploughed;--that which lay below must be brought
up to the surface and exposed to the light of day. Self-knowledge and
self-discipline must do their work
and the whole field be made fit for the
reception and growth of the seed of righteousness. If we do
the text leads us
to hope that we shall reap in mercy; that is
we shall receive from the
merciful hand of God our Father an abundant reward of unfading happiness and
glory
eternal in the heavens.
1. We have no grounds on which to expect a harvest of mercy without a
previous sowing time of righteousness. Without a holy life here
no man need
expect or hope for a happy life hereafter.
2. The reward of our service is not to be looked for as of right
but
as the gift of the free grace and mercy of God. Granting our seed-time of
righteousness ever so perfect or so plenteous
how is God the better for it
that He should be constrained to pay us wages for it? Here then is the sum of
the whole matter. We shall not be saved for our works
but we shall never be
saved without them. Knowing this
let us pray and labour and strive that no day
may pass over our heads without our having made some progress in the work of
sowing unto righteousness. (F. E. Paget
M. A.)
Sowing righteousness
..
Let them “sow to themselves in righteousness”; let them return to
the practice of good works
according to the rule of God
which is the rule of
righteousness; let them abound in works of piety towards God
and in justice
and charity towards one another. Every action is seed sown. Let them sow what
they should sow
do what they should do
and they themselves shall have the
benefit of it. (Matthew Henry.)
What repentance of national sins doth God require
as ever we
expect national mercies
The prophet joineth counsel with threatenings. Amendment is that
he calleth them to as a means to save them. By this text God proclaims
not
only to particular persons
but to nations
how desirable it is to Him to
execute His goodness; and His extreme backwardness to avenge Himself on the
most provoking kingdoms
unless they add impenitency under solemn warnings unto
their rebellion.
I. The words
contain some of the essentials of repentance
and suppose the rest.
1. He that will repent must deal with his indisposed heart. “Break up
the fallow ground.”
2. When the heart is thus prepared
we must proceed to proper acts of
reformation. “Sow to yourselves in (or to) righteousness.” Let the rule of
righteousness be observed in your hearts and ways.
3. You must also “seek the Lord.” Follow after Him: persist in your
seeking.
II. This repentance
is urged from a variety of arguments. Principally from this
that national
mercies would certainly follow national repentance. What repentance of national
sins doth God require?
1. Resolve the case in general. Repentance ordinarily affords ground
of our expectation of national mercies
notwithstanding national sins. But when
this repentance is not in a nation
we cannot ordinarily expect national
mercies. These things are supposed in the case as stated. What are national
sins? Such gross sins as render a nation guilty
and expose it to national
judgments
and forfeit national mercies. These sins are gross in their nature.
Not sins of infirmity
or sins which ordinary care
labour
and watchfulness
could not prevent. They are such as idolatry
perjury
breaking of covenant
blood
uncleanness
apostasy
oppression
profaneness. These sins must be
national. And sins become national by all
or the generality of a people
being
personally transgressors
as to those crimes; or when the governors
representatives
and influencing persons are transgressors; or by the
generality of a nation making itself a partaker of other men’s sins
though it
do not actually commit them. These sins are such as expose to judgments and
forfeit national mercies. More refined sins may expose one nation to judgments
which may not expose another land. This depends on the variety of advantages
some people are under above others. The provoking sins of one and the same nation
may be made up by various kinds of offences
according to the different
condition of offenders. The sins of magistrates are of one kind
and the sins
of subjects another
according to their different talents and station. Usually
the sins of a nation do not bring judgments or forfeit mercies by the simple
commission of them
but as attended with some additional aggravations A land
rarely is destroyed
unless sins are committed after warnings. Security and
impenitence is added to rebellion before God proceeds against a people. What
then are national mercies in the ease before us? Such blessings as truly and
considerably affect the good of a community. They must be blessings in their
nature
and national in their extent. These mercies regard our souls
or our
bodies
or both. The pardon of past sins
and help against the like offences;
the presence of God as effective of spiritual and temporal good; Gospel
ordinances; love and peace among Churches; freedom from persecution and
malignity; a godly magistracy; peace in our borders; justice in our courts;
learning in the schools
etc. etc.
III. The case stated
and distinguished from what seems like it. The question connects our repentance
and warrantable expectations. The scope of it is
--what is the lowest sort or
degree of repentance for national sins which is requisite to warrant
and
ordinarily direct
our expectations of national mercies?
IV. The
difficulties of the case.
1. Other nations are not under such express rules with respect to
God’s outward dealings as the Jewish nation was. There have been always great
displays of sovereignty in God’s dispensation of judgments and mercy toward
nations. There are prophetic periods wherein national mercies shall not be
obstructed by impenitence but repentance shall follow them. The desolation of a
land is sometimes absolutely determined. God sometimes moderateth and refrains
His judgments from other considerations besides repentance. It is not very
easy
at all times
to judge of national judgments.
V. The case
resolved. The rule by which we must determine this is hinted in the case
itself
under those words
“What repentance doth God require?” Some expression
of the Divine will must guide us; we must not judge by second causes
or by
vain fancy
as we are apt to do.
1. A repentance short of that which is enjoined in order to eternal
salvation will suffice to warrant our expectations of national mercies. Eternal
issues are not determined by the same rules as temporal blessings. Uuregenerate
persons may repent
so as to divert present judgments
and secure mercies. This
is evident in Ahab and Nineveh.
2. The repentance which yields us ground to expect national mercies
must be for national sins. It includes clear convictions of the guilt and
offences of a nation. Shame
fear
and deep humblings of soul under the sense
of the wrath of God
as provoked by our sins. Such a compliance with God’s
warnings and rebukes
as to put men on seeking God’s favour
and resolving to
forsake the national pollutions. And there must be reformation. In proving the
decision of the case
the described repentance doth ordinarily afford a people
national mercies
notwithstanding national sins. And where this repentance
obtains not
a people cannot justly expect national mercies. When a people is given
up to impenitency
and God withholds a blessing from the methods that tend to
their repentance
there is just cause to fear that judgments are determined
against that land. Impenitence is not only a moral obstacle to good
but it is
also a natural obstacle. The iniquity of a nation is even materially its ruin.
(Daniel Williams
D. D.)
The fallow ground
Very often the prophet had to reprove and call the people
to repent. Hosea is doing this in the passage before us.
I. The particular
sort of characters here indicated. They are figuratively indicated by the term
“fallow ground
” or land lying fallow
producing nothing. The figure must not
be taken quite literally
because there are some points in which it will not
apply. The point in the figure is this. There is a human heart
producing
nothing; there is a man
whose character has no religious fruitfulness
no
religious excellence in relation to God. It is not verdant soil. It is not like
the soil of the primitive forest
which never has produced any thing
for it
has had its crops. That is the character here represented
--a nation
a Church
or an individual
that was fruitful
that was religious
but it has been
neglected
and it is now lying barren
fallow
producing nothing. But the farm
land is left fallow intentionally
and for a good purpose. In the fallow ground
which is a man
and not a farm
there
is not one thing done with thought
delibera tion
purpose
or plan. Man’s heart is left fallow by temptation
negligence
ignorance
sin
backsliding
and instead of being the better for
it
its condition is an injury
and a curse.
II. THE
EXHORTATION. “It is time to seek the Lord.” The Hebrews ought never to have
needed a time for seeking the Lord. Heathen might feel after God
but Hebrews
knew Him. The Hebrew child had to seek God for himself
but that is quite a
different thing. Though
therefore
this exhortation ought not to have been
needed
by the mercy of God it is given. It may be enforced in the sense in
which the apostle uses an expression of the same sort
“It is high time to
awake out of sleep.” It may be used in the sense of a time being propitious. An
accepted time. Observe what man is told to do. Four things are figuratively
expressed in the text.
1. Repentance.
2. Reformation.
3. Prayer.
4. Perseverance.
III. The result.
“Till God rain down righteousness upon you.” God rains down
not righteousness
absolutely
but that which will produce it.
IV. The whole is in
mercy. “Reap in mercy.” (T. Binney.)
What sowing involves
If we “sow for righteousness
” that is
if our efforts are
directed to embodying it in our lives
“we shall reap according to mercy.” That
is true universally
whether it is taken to mean God’s mercy to us
or ours to
others. The aim after righteousness ever secures the Divine favour
and usually
ensures the measure which we mete being measured to us again. But sowing is not
all; thorns must be grubbed up. We must not only turn over a new leaf
but tear
out the old one. The old man must be slain if the new man is to live. The call
to amend finds its warrant in the assurance that there is still time to seek
the Lord
and that for all His threatenings
He is ready to rain blessings upon
the seekers. The unwearying patience of God
the possibility of the worst
sinner’s repentance
the conditional nature of the threatenings
the yet deeper
thought that righteousness must come from above
are all condensed in this
brief Gospel before the Gospel. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
The Divine voice to a worthless people
Sowing and
reaping are figures here used to denote the spiritual and moral conduct of this
people. All human life consists of sowing and reaping. Every intelligent act
embodies a moral principle
contains a seed that must germinate and grow.
I. A wretched
moral state. “Fallow ground
” uncultivated earth. A state of--
1. Unloveliness. It is either an expanse of grey earth
or of weeds
thistles
and thorns.
2. Unfruitfulness. Unless the soil is cultivated there is no fruit
and the land is worthless.
3. Wastefulness. “On fallow ground the rain
dew
and sunshine fall
but all in vain. How much Divine grace is wasted on unregenerate men: sermons
books
Bibles
providences
means of grace
all wasted.
II. An urgent moral
duty.
1. Moral ploughing. Think on two things. What God has been to us.
What we have been to Him.
2. Moral sowing.
3. Moral reaping.
III. A solemn moral
suggestion.
1. No time to lose.
2. Much has been lost.
3. It is only now the work can be effectively done.
IV. A glorious
moral prospect. “He will rain righteousness
” or “teach you righteousness.”
Pursue this work of moral agriculture properly
and God Himself will come and
teach you righteousness. (Homilist.)
The fallow ground state
The characters represented by the term
“fallow ground
” are to be
found in every town and in every congregation.
I. Who are the
characters indicated? Those whose affections
habits
and thoughts were once
bearing a rich harvest for God
but in whom this is all changed
and the heart
is become barren. But not the backslider only; the description applies to all
who are careless or hardened in their sins; all whose characters have no
religious fruitfulness.
II. How may we
break up the fallow ground? We must first satisfy ourselves that the ground is
fallow; and in doing this prayerful meditation will greatly assist us. We may
also have the guidance and assistance of the Holy Spirit.
III. Why we should
break up the fallow ground? The constraining motive is this
“it is time to
seek the Lord.” Time because you have already spent too much of your short life
in the service of sin and Satan. Because you will never have a more suitable
season than the present. You have sought to persuade yourself that
by and by
you would be more at leisure for seeking the Lord. You must not think a time of
affliction will prove a more suitable time. The more happy we are
in the
fulness of our strength
before the eye is dim
and before the intellect begins
to fail--that is the time to think deeply upon the claims of God. (R. K.
Bailie
M. A.)
The reward of well-doing
How shall we attain eternal life? The text declares that obedience
shall not fail of its reward. And that the reward is of grace
and not of debt.
We should understand that there is a vast difference between reward and merit.
Merit is the right to receive a reward. Reward is a free testimony of approval.
The text animates every one of us with the hope of reward; it abases each one
of us by a denial of merit.
I. If we sow
we
shall reap. A man might as reasonably expect a crop in the autumn
though he
had wasted the season of seed-time
as suppose that a life of indolence and
sensuality would lead him to Paradise.
II. Consider the
caution
“reap in mercy.” The caution is against admitting any notion of merit.
They claim most who have no ground of claim at all. If the notion of merit
would be impiety in an angel
what must it be in man? And men have to regard
not only the power of God
but also His holiness
which can carry no terror to
sinless spirits. You shall reap “according to mercy.” Be assured
then
that you
cannot sow too freely for that harvest. (M. Biggs
M. A.)
Sowing and reaping
Activity is not only a sign of life
it is a necessary condition
of its continuance. The illustrations of this common law of life are as
abundant as life itself. That which is true of trees
of muscle
and of brain
is equally true of spiritual powers. For them no condition is a surer augury of
death than unuse. As a Divine call to religious activity
Hosea’s words contain
some points of perpetual importance. The call is--
1. Distinctly personal. “Sow for yourselves.” Whether a man will or
not
he is constantly a sower of seed. The bad man
the defective Christian
the dilatory
the prayerless
are all sowers. This Divine call does not deal so
much with unconscious influences
as with purposed and determined work.
2. The call is specific and definite. You are not to sow anything
that may come first to hand. You are to sow the right word
the right spirit
the right action. Every seed we scatter with our hands deliberately
every seed
that is unconsciously permitted to wing its way from our whole demeanour
is to
bear within it the germ of the true life.
3. The call is opportune. It is always timely to be doing good. There
are
however
certain seasons when religious activity is the present duty.
4. The call is urgent. All the verbs axe in one mood; and this is not
the conditional or subjunctive
but the imperative. God never gives men any
call without making it possible for them to obey it.
Our encouragement
to obedience is found in the--
1. Answer of a good conscience.
2. In certain success.
3. In full proofs of Divine mercy.
4. The success will be far spreading. The Christian worker is blessed
in his deed. And--
5. The success will be abundant.
Let the labour for God tax our utmost ability
our patience
our
faith; still
be it ours to work on
confident of the result. The blessing is
certain to come
even for ourselves
certain to have proofs of mercy in it
certain to reach further than we anticipated
certain also to be plenteous. Enlarge
your faith
therefore
in the power and blessing of God. Your work of faith and
labour of love shall not be forgotten; but shall be copiously and even
abundantly blessed. (J. Jackson Goadby.)
True seeking
The prophet
bids them “seek diligently” (so the Hebrew) and
perseveringly
“not leaving off or desisting
” if they should not at once find
but continuing the search
quite up to the time when they should find.
His words imply the need of perseverance and patience
which should stop short
of nothing but God’s own time for finding. The prophet
as is the way of the
prophets
goes on to Christ
who was ever in the prophets’ hearts and hopes.
The words could only be understood improperly of God the Father. God does not
come
for He is everywhere. He ever was among His people
nor did He will to be
among them otherwise than heretofore. No coming of God
as God
was looked for
to teach righteousness. But the coming of Christ
the partiarchs and holy men
all along desired to see. (E. B. Pusey
D. D.)
Spiritual husbandry
God has been pleased to give us instruction not only by His Word
but also by His works. Nature echoes Scripture to our sins
and if we would
permit it
to our hearts. The ground we till is under the curse of God for
man’s sin; that its natural produce is only thistles
weeds
brambles. You have
seen a piece of ground that has been left waste and uncultivated
and how it
has become full of weeds
and rank with poisonous herbs
and infested with
noisome creatures. Just such a place is man’s heart. You have but to look at
what man becomes when left to himself
without knowledge
without instruction
without the restraining and renewing grace of God
and you cannot doubt but
that the inclination of his heart is not to good
that its imaginations are
only evil continually. And out of that heart comes all manner of wickedness
that is practised amongst mankind. Suppose any one of you had a garden overrun
with weeds
how would he set about getting rid of them
so as to do it
effectually? Would he take a scythe and cut off the tops
or a spade and dig
them all up by the root? So if we were to tell men that they must put away this
or that particular sin
we would do no more towards making them really holy
than a man would do towards clearing his garden if he should only break off the
heads of the weeds growing in it. For both would be leaving the roots alive.
Some may doubt whether their hearts are so bad as they have been represented to
be. Then hear the Word of God (Jeremiah 17:9
etc.). The words of the
text Bid us break up the fallow ground of our hearts
that it may be prepared
to receive the good seed of eternal life.
I. The thing to be
done. The plough breaking up the soil
the harrow tearing to pieces the hard
and cumbering clods
are a sign of what must be done in our own hearts. The
foul
unprofitable soil of the carnal and natural heart must be broken up from
the bottom. It will not do just to disturb the surface. Have you ever even
suspected that your heart wants cleansing? Is not the deadly root of sin
shooting up there in a thousand shapes? Is there not unbelief
like the
poisonous nightshade? Is there not pride
as a towering plant that brooks none
to overlook it? Does not selfishness twine its roots and strike them deep
ay
down to the very ground of the heart? Is there no foul and rotten heap of
unclean desires? Are not the cares and pleasures of this world like thorns and
briars within you
choking up the thought and the love of better things? But
how can your hearts be broken up? Not of yourselves. It is the Spirit of God
carrying home the word which
like a two-edged sword
pierceth even to the
dividing asunder of the bones and marrow
--it is He alone that can break up the
hard and stony soil of the sinner’s heart. It is a joy to the angels to see the
fallow ground of the sinner’s heart broken up with godly sorrow
humbled into
repentance before God. When the ploughshare of conviction has gone deep
when
the heart is no longer hardened
the seed of everlasting life will have a
chance of springing up. But it is the Spirit alone who can renew us unto
repentance and holiness.”
II. A reason why it
must be done. A stirring motive is given us all in breaking up our fallow ground.
“It is time to seek the Lord.” The farmer who should stand idling with folded
arms when he ought to be sowing
and should let the seed-time slip away
could
expect in harvest only weeds and thistles. Leave not
then
to the evening the
proper work of the day. Opportunities lost cannot be recalled.
III. The blessing
promised. We shall not seek in vain. He will “come and rain” righteousness
“upon us.” The Lord will “satiate” the weary soul
and replenish every
sorrowful soul. Upon them that seek Him will the Lord rain righteousness
even all the
sanctifying graces of His Holy Spirit. Then wait upon the Lord in prayer
wait
upon Him till He come
and pour out of His Spirit upon you. (E. Blencowe
M.
A.)
The proportion of mercy
Rather “Sow righteousness in the proportion of mercy.” As God has
been merciful to you
so be ye righteous to Him: keep pace for pace with the
Divine mercy; be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect; be ye holy as
your Father in heaven is holy. This is the ideal; God would have human
righteousness in proportion to Divine mercy. The standard is not arbitrary; it
is gracious and tender and condescending
but who can attain unto it? It is not
in man that liveth to keep pace with God. (Joseph Parker
D. D.)
It is time to seek the Lord.--
Seeking and seekers
I. Whom are we to
seek? “The Lord.” Our Creator
Father
Redeemer
Lord
Judge.
II. How are we to
seek Him?
1. Earnestly. “Agonise to enter in.”
2. Humbly
in view of our helplessness and sin; hence penitently.
3. Prayerfully.
4. Obediently. Israel had become profane
idolatrous covenant
breakers.
III. Why are we to
seek him?
1. For God’s sake.
2. For our neighbour’s sake.
3. For our own sake.
IV. When are we to
seek him? Now--
1. The Scriptures often urge haste.
2. Delay itself is sin.
3. The great good derived from such a course.
4. The way to the throne is open.
5. The time is short. (W. Veenschoten.)
The duty of seeking God
I. The duty
enjoined. We should seek the Lord--
1. In the performance of His will.
2. In a dependence on His mercy.
3. In a due preparation of heart to receive His blessings.
II. The arguments
by which it is enforced.
1. The urgency of the duty.
2. The certainty of success in it. (T. Hannam.)
Seeking the Lord an immediate duty
I. Whom are we to
seek? “The Lord.” This implies--
1. That man is removed from God by sin.
2. That man may get near to God by seeking.
3. That it is his duty to do so.
II. How are we to
seek the Lord?
1. By repentance.
2. By faith.
III. When are we to
seek the Lord? “Now.”
1. To some of you these words contain a reproof.
2. For many of you these words contain a warning.
Seeking the Lard an immediate duty
I. The being
whose favour men are to seek. “The Lord”; this is expressive of His greatness
and power as the Proprietor of all things. “He is Lord over all.” “The earth is
the Lord’s
” etc. Think of His relation to us.
Creator--Preserver--Benefactor--the God of grace. Think how able and willing He
is to promote our happiness.
II. The nature of
seeking the Lord. It implies--
1. A knowledge of His character and a conviction of the importance
and advantages of having Him for our portion.
2. A conviction that sin has deprived us of Him as our portion. “Your
iniquities
” etc. “All we like sheep
” etc.
3. A knowledge of the way in which God may be sought. Through the
Sacrifice of His Son
the Mediator
the Surety
mercy
pardon
and acceptance
may be obtained.
4. Heartfelt repentance. Contrition; godly sorrow; confession of evil
to God; cessation from sin
as an evidence of regeneration commencing. “Let the
wicked
” etc.
5. Faith in Christ. “Repent and believe the Gospel.” “Believe in
”
etc. What is faith? It is the reliance of the sick and diseased one upon the
skill and healing power of the Great Physician; it is the reliance of the
debtor
of the prisoner
captive
etc. etc.
upon Christ
whose work on the
Cross is adapted to meet all those exigencies of the sinner.
6. With diligence and perseverance. “With the heart man believeth
”
etc. “Ye shall find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart”; “Cry
out for the living God.”
III. The advantages
of seeking the Lord.
1. We avoid infinite evil; as the result of transgression. “The wages
of sin is death.”
2. We become possessed of infinite good. The benefit of all His
attributes--of all His providence--of all the riches of His grace--of all the
glories of HIS heaven--of His eternity.
3. We become auxiliaries to Christ in the glorious work of
salvation--extending the boundaries of the mediatorial kingdom. This honour
have all the saints!
4. By seeking the Lord
and finding Him
we do that which thousands
in a dying hour
and at the judgment day
will regret that they have not done.
“The harvest is past
” etc.
5. Those who seek the Lord now will never lose Him in eternity.
IV. The immediate
attention which this duty demands.
1. It is time
according to the statements of Scripture. “To-day
”
etc. “Behold now
” etc. “Seek ye the Lord while
” etc.
2. It is time
on account of the great evil already perpetrated. “One
sinner destroyeth much good.”
3. The great good to be realised proves that it is time to seek the
Lord. When the miser
the ambitious
etc.
perceive an opportunity of gaining
gold
honour
etc.
how do they rush forward to seize the coveted good!
4. The frailty of human existence declares it is time.
5. It is time
because the facilities in seeking the Lord will
gradually lessen. (Helps for the Pulpit.)
Verses 13-15
Ye have plowed wickedness
ye have reaped iniquity.
Diligence in serving sin
Whereas the Lord had
by His prophets
frequently inculcated that
exhortation
to taker pains on their own hearts
to bring forth the fruits of
piety and righteousness; they
on the contrary
took pains enough in serving
sin
wherein they wanted not fruit
though it should disappoint their
expectation. This challenge is farther amplified and enlarged by showing what
was the fountain and spring of all this wickedness; to wit
their carnal
confidence in the sinful ways and courses they followed
both in matters of
state and religion
and their confidence in their many valiant men.
1. Many are so perverse
as they are not only content to live in sin
neglecting their duty
but they will be at pains to promote sin
and will
trouble themselves to undo themselves.
2. Sin is a very fertile weed among the children of men; such as are
bent on it will soon get their hearts’ desire of it
and God will give up such
as are diligent that way
to a height of impiety
as a plague upon them. “Ye
have reaped iniquity.” By this we are not to understand God’s causing them to
reap the fruit of sin in judgments
but that their labours in sin came to a
ripe harvest of grown-up iniquity.
3. Whatever fruit sin seem to promise to its followers
or whatever
present comforts or success men seem to have by it
yet it will prove but vain
and disappoint them.
4. Men’s carnal confidences are great snares to draw them upon sinful
courses
and are promising fruits which will disappoint them.
5. There is no confidence that more easily ensnares men
and will
disappoint them sooner
than their own witty projects and devices in matters
civil and sacred
without respecting the law of God; and their seeming to have
power enough to manage and uphold them in these contrived ways. For such is
their snare here
which will surely disappoint them. (George Hutcheson.)
Sow a habit
reap a character
Professor William Jones
of Harvard
in his text-book on
psychology
says: “Could the young but realise how soon they will become mere
bundles of habits
they would give more heed to their conduct while in the
plastic state. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its scar. The
drunken Rip Van Winkle
in Jefferson’s play
excuses himself for every fresh
dereliction by saying
‘I won’t count this time’ Well
he may not count it
and
a kind heaven may not count it
but it is being counted none the less. Down
among the nerve-cells and fibres the molecules are counting it
registering and
storing it up
to be used against him when the next temptation comes. Nothing
we ever do is
in strict scientific literalness
wiped out. Of course
this has
its good side as well as its bad one. As we become permanent drunkards by so
many separate drinks
so we become saints in the moral
and authorities and
experts in the practical and scientific
spheres by so many separate acts and
hours of work.”
Because thou didst trust
in thy way.
Trust in our own things
Israel
the ten tribes
had two great confidences. “Thou didst
trust in thy way
in the multitude of thy mighty men.”
I. In their way.
That is
in the way of religion that they had chosen for themselves
and which
was distinct from the way of Judah
from the true worship of God. They were
confident that they were right
and would not hear anything to the contrary.
That which is a man’s own way he is very ready to trust in
and to esteem
highly. None are more ready to charge others with pride than the proud; and
none are more ready to charge others with adhering to their own way than those
who most stick to their own conceit.
II. In their mighty
men. “They had an army to back them
to fight for them
and to maintain that
way of theirs. When the outward strength of a kingdom goes along with a way of
religion
men think it must needs be right
and that all its opponents are but
weak men. Great armies are the confidence of careless hearts. Those that trust
to any way of their own have need of creature strengths to uphold them. (Jeremiah
Burroughs.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》